Resistance welding method employing electrical energy storage means



H. KLEMPERER EAWJGZ RESISTANCE WELDING METHOD EMPLOYING ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE MEANS Original Filed Dec. 25, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

Jan. 10, 1950 We/EN 70E HNs I fiL/WFERE&

MERQuQ 7 1 Jan. 10, 1950 H. KLEMPERER RESISTANCE WELDING METHOD EMPLOYXNG ELECTRICAL ENERGY STORAGE MEANS Original Filed Dec. 23, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOLD OFF TIME w M a 1m 0 F M I J v m T m N 5 f 0 m m w% M U E r. 6 M M v, 6 W M w m P a w i an t a F M w, W M a win... 7 Z z w a W m V E W E n r -l m. 0 "N. R kuwkmu d 7 m w 0 Mmfiw m mm W w 0V F a F a 1 0 W Mn/15E P511700 Patented an. 19, 195i] UN ITFETD STATES RESISTANCE 'WELDING" METHQD EM--' PLGYING ELECTRICAL ENERGY STOR AGE MEANS Hans Klemperer, Belmont, Mass.,. assignor to lEtaytheon Manufacturing Company, Newton, Mas s., a corporation of Delaware Original application December 23, 1942; Serial v; No. 4695863.; Divided andthis applicationw-Decernben-22;..l943, Serial No. 515,318,

Thisinvention relates to amethod of resist-. ancewelding, and more particularly tosucha method in which aseries. oipulses of current are suppliedto the .load inorderto. produce a desired Weldingoperation, and is a division of myicopending application, Serial No. 469,86-3' filed Decemberv 23,v 1942 for an improvement in Impulse-resistance welders. It is well known in the art to supplyenergytothewelding load to effect a welding cycle. Suchwelding cycle may include one or more .periods during which energy issupplied to the work forpreheating purposes, a periodduring which more, energy is supplied to eifect, the actual weldingoperationi. e..the fusion ofthe ,two or more parts, of the-work together, and this last periodlmay ifdesired be followed by a subsequent period duringwhich additional energy is supplied; to thework for annealing purposes. For the purposes of..the resent application it will .be understood that the .t'erm welding. operation refers rto.the,- fusion of j the work and is considered independentoisuch otherroperations which may be addedoromitted as cle-v sired to effect the complete ,welding cycle- Heretoiore .pulses of current derived from, a commercial line. frequencyasource such as a sixty-cycle, source, were ,utilized, for welding purposes. Such pulses usually consistedofj a predetermined number of cycles or half cycles of current However; thecuseoi current pulses '2 of this kindlresulted variousvdrawbacksh In order to transform thecurrent at the standard commercial, frequency, relatively large sizes of transformer were necessary. It was also necessary to. drawall of the power from the single phase line instead of th more desirable practice of drawing aebalanced load from ,a three-phase line. In an attempt toincrease ,the power suppliedtothe welding load, the secondary voltage of; the welding transformer wasraised to undesirable high values. Such previous methods also have been relatively. infile gib le, and thus not adaptabletoa wide variety oi welding loads.

' An object OfjthiS invention is. to provide a meth d. 9 e st n e W d ch, ts a substantial .decrease lnthe .size of; the welding transformer. and associatediparts;

A further objectistoprovidea method vfor increased flexibility in the adjustment of'a welding system of theforeg oing type,

A still further: object is toq enable balanced loads to bedrawnefroma three-phase or other plural-phaseline witha weldin systemof the e ate-ret pe...

The, fore oing find pther, objects, of. this in:

2* vention will be best understood' from the. following description of an exe rnplification thereof reference being hadv to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. ,1 is adiagrammatic; sketch of a system adapted to. operate in accordancerwiththe meth 0d of my invention;

Fig, 2 is a pair of .curyes illustrating the mode of operation of the system shown in Figs};- and Fig, 3 is aset oicuryesillustrating therelationships between th e :various currents and-voltages occurring in the arrangement of;Fig-l dur= in t op ont e eq z The systemillustrated in Fig; 1 comprises a welding loadl which maybe of the ordinary spot resistance welding type; consisting of either individual spots; or overlapping-spots; The resistance welding v load ,I" is supplied with welding current from the secondary 2 ofga welding; transformer ;3 whoseuprimaryfl is. adapted to. be supplied with the desiredpulses of' current'froma condenser 55; The condenser discharged toLthe desired voltage from aw suitable source of direct current; such'as ,a series of grid-controll'e'd rectifier tubes 6." The tubesfiimayi be' arranged in a full-wave rectifying systempenergi zed" from a three-phase transformer 1 having a .pair' of .secondary windings 8;,each arrangedin a star con-. nection. The transformer :1 also hasa primary winding .9 arranged preferably in a delta connece tion and; energized" from, a suitable" three-phase source of alternating current. Theneutral points of the two secondary .win;ding, j Bare iIIlJGI'COIl-r nected by an interphase reactor ill-from the center point of which extends the; negative lead; 'I l of the rectified current supply. The outer end of-each coil of the secondarywindings 8 is con,- nected to onev of theanodes of' one of the rectifiers 6; Thev cathodes ofgthe rectifiers 6 are. all connected to the positive lead; IZ'OfthG rectified current supply. v The condenser- 5511s j connected between the positive andnegativeleadsl I and 12 so as to become charged ;by the" rectified "current supplied thereto.

In order to. controlfthe voltage delivered' by the rectifier 6, each griglfoijthese rectifiers is ected hrou h a i h es stance a grid control lead l4. One .of'the. gridsmay havea source ofalternating current I 5;connected in series with the resistancell3 so asyto cause said rectifier tube tosupply a final trickle charge to thecondenserneas itapproathfifi the desired final value of voltagethereo This.,operation,isde scribed more. fully. ,and; claimed. .inthe cop en c iv s appli at ofiJ alwi'; Dawson. Serial. N

312,712, filed January 6, 1940, now Patent No. 2,483,691, dated October 4, 1949. The voltage which is supplied to the grid control lead I4 is derived from a potentiometer I6 connected across the condenser'5. A glow discharge tube I? in series with a resistance [8 is connected from an adjustable point IS on the potentiometer It to the positive or cathode lead l2. The voltage across the resistance 1'8 is connected by means of a conductor 20 to the grid control lead I4.

As the voltage on the condenser E rises, the voltage applied to the glow tube It reaches a point at which that glow tube starts to conduct current. Thereafter the voltage across the glow tube remains constant, but the voltage across the resistance l8 rises linearly with respect to the voltage at the point l9, and thus the voltage across the resistance it responds to the voltage on the condenser 5. When the desired voltage is attained across the condenser 5, the grid control lead 14 supplies a sufiiciently negative voltage to the grids of the tubes 6 so as to cause said tubes to become extinguished. Due to the presence of the alternatingvoltage iii in the grid lead of one of the tubes 6, that tube continues to fire in delayed phase, the angle of which increases and thus causes the tube to supply smaller increments of charging current to the condenser 5. When the condenser reaches its final value, the

voltage supplied by the grid control lead It is sufn ficient to extinguish the last tube 5. However, this tube with the alternating Voltage superimposed on its grid acts as a trickle. charger whenever the charge on the condenser 5 leaks off to a sufficient degree to require such a trickle charge supply. A voltmeter 2i may be connected across the condenser 5, if desired. The operation of the glow tube I! and its associated control circuit is described more fully and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 461,571, filed October 10, 1942, now Patent 2,383,492, issued August 28, 1945.

In order to discharge the condenser 5'into the resistance welding load, a controlled discharge tube 22 is connected between the negative side of the condenser 5 andone end of the primary winding 4, the positive side of the condenser 5 being connected directly to the other end of said primary winding. The tube 22 is preferably of the type having a mercury pool cathode 23, an anode 24, and an igniting electrode 25 which when supplied with a pulse of igniting current initiates an are spot on the surface of the mercury pool 23. In order to supply igniting impulses to the igniting electrode 25, there is provided an impulse generator 26. This may be a standard impulse generator employing a thyratron. This generator is adjustable to allow a variation in the number of impulses which it supplies per second. In a particular embodiment of my invention I utilized an impulse generator which supplied impulses which could be adjusted in frequency from five to twenty impulses per second. The impulses delivered by the generator 26 are preferably amplified by an impulse amplifier 21. Both the generator 26 and the amplifier 2'! may be energized from a suitable source of alternating current 28. In order to control the number of impulses which are delivered to the tube 22 during a single welding operation, an automatic time delay relay 29 is utilized. This relay closes a controlling circuit for the impulse generator 25, causing that generator to operate for a suiiicient period of time for a welding operation to be completed, whereupon the relay 29 opens the control circuit for a sumcient waiting time until the next welding operation is to be initiated. The relay 29 may be adjustable so as to provide for a varying period of time during which the impulse generator is maintained in operation. Of course the generator 25, the am- 21, and the time delay relay 29 are all standard pieces of apparatus so that it is not necessary to include further details thereof in this application.

Each time an igniting impulse is supplied to the igniting electrode 25, a discharge is initiated in the tube 22 and the condenser 5 discharges into the primary winding 4. It is desirable to use a pickup circuit consisting of a condenser 3|] in series with a resistance 3i across the tube 22 so as to assist in the reliable initiation of a discharge in the tube 22 each time an igniting impulse is supplied to the electrode 25.

The operation of the system each time an igniting impulse is supplied to the tube 22 may be understood more readily with reference to Fig. 2, in which the curve E represents the voltage on the condenser 5 and the curve I represents the welding current, both curves being plotted along a horizontal time axis. At the time To the condenser 5 is assumed to be fully charged, and an igniting impulse is supplied to the electrode 25. Thereupon the tube 22 starts to conduct current and the voltage E drops to zero at the time T1, while the current I rises to a maximum value at that time. During the time To-T1 flux was being built up in the transformer 3 so that, after the time T1, the collapse of the flux causes the current to continue flowing in the same direction, although decreasing in magnitude, and thus to recharge the condenser 5 to an inverse value, which reaches a maximum at the time T2, at which time the current I falls to zero. The voltage on the condenser 5 at the time T2 would tend to discharge back through the primary winding 4, causing a reversal of current to take place. However, the tube 22 being a rectifier cannot carry such a reversed current flow. If the current flow terminated at the time T2, the inverse voltage would be trapped on the condenser 5 in a direction which would not be useful for welding purposes.

In order to permit the inverse current flow, an additional controlled tube 32 is connected across the tube 22. The tube 32 likewise is preferably of the type having a mercury pool cathode 33, an anode 34, and an igniting electrode 35 which is adapted to initiate an are spot on the surface of the pool 33 when supplied with an igniting impulse. The igniting impulse is supplied to the electrode 35 by having that electrode connected through a controlled discharge tube 35 in series with a resistance 31 to the anode 34. The controlled tube 36 may have its grid connected through a resistance to its anode, thus forming essentially a rectifier in series with the igniting electrode 35, of such a polarity as to deliver a pulse of current to the electrode 35 when the anode 34 of that tube becomes sulficiently positive. At the time T2 the voltage across the rectifier 22 reverses, and thus likewise the voltage across the tube 32 reverses. Upon such reversal of voltage, the tube 36 conducts current, supplying an igniting impulse to the electrode 35, and thus causing the tube 32 to start conducting current. This permits the inverse pulse of current, as shown in Fig. 2, in the time interval T2-T4 to flow. Thus the condenser 5 discharges back through the primary winding 4 egue-sacs the condenser has -re' gaineda charge which,.how'- :2

i ever, in" this case is in' the" same direction: as tthe inital charge: and -is thusavailablef to .lassist' 'in *the subsequent welding operation. :lSince? atithe time' Ti the current falls tofzerogtheitubefie-zvba comes extinguished; and iinzc'absence tofiranother' lln 'l'igniting impulse supqzvlied to the e'lectrode'.i. 5, the tube ZZ doesnQ-tre-ignite; andLtherefore thercurrent pulse is completed at the time T4. Sometime thereaf ter the rectiflers 6 again supply charging current to the condenser 5 which builds up its voltage' from the'valuewhich it possesses at the time Tcto theoriginal.fully-charged value necessary for the production of -.a-:subse,quent welding operation.

It is, or course; desirable' that the-rectiflers 6*}:

do not'attempt to supply charging current to the condenser 't during the-timeitis supplying a welding current impulse. For this {purpose a 2'h0ld-0fi :circuit is utilizedccom-prising a:rectifier :tubez't'l connected in series with a resistanceWdigs and a condenser 41 across the primarywinding 4. The rectifier tube 31 has acath'ode preferably of the'c-onstantly energized type, such as a heatcd filament, connected to the end of the rprimary winding '4 to which the anode-2t of the tubeZZ 2- connected. The tube 31 also hasxa'rr anode =39 which is connected to theresistance ill. A conductor lg connects therpointintermediate the anode li and the resistance to the grid control lead It. "When the tube-222m'ignited,.'the =main as discharge circuit iscompleted and supplies the voltage of the 'condenser5"across the primary winding 4. This voltage ,islikewise connected across the hold-off circuit. The rectifier -tl" is of such'a polarity as to pass charging'current to lothe condenser 4! whichquicklybecomes charged to the voltage of'the cond'enser'i. 'It will be seen that under theseiconditions theflowen plater'of the condenser l 4 1 is made positive #while'l theuupper plate becomes negative. impressed by the conductor 42 to the grid lead M, and thus holds off all of the rectifiers G from further conduction of current as along as this hold-oh voltage is present. As the voltage on ssolely'lbysthe :circuit' 'cons'tantsscfz the...condenser -Zdisciharge and welding circuit. Thus, we seev that -:.the.- frequency 'of each of these welding current impulses is independent of any-line frequency aand is solely dependent upon the circuit constants as EJJOVB "described. ?;By adjusting these con- .stantsthe frequency may be adjusted. Likewise -lt" Wi11':be"Sen.that"811108 17116 frequency of each cur-rent impulse is fixed by the circuit constants of the welding load, :the current issupplied to that load with maximumefiectiveness. ,I prefer to usesfrequenciesifor each-welding current ima pulse-substantiallyhigher than that. .of ordinary commercial .line: frequencies, and more particularly.=of. .the.-orderofsaboutzllo. cycles per second ormore. fThecurvedshows that the number of impulses of welding current supplied during any welding period is independently controlled bythe .frequenc-yof theimpulse generator. At the'time Tu,.-..indicated in Fig. '3,--the relay-29 closes the circuit to the impulse. generator 26, thus initiating "the welding period. At the time T11, likewise .representedin Fig. 3, the relay 29 opens the control circuit'to'lthe impulse, generator'26, thus terminating the welding period. Thus by adjusting the frequencyofthe impulse generator 25;the number of'welding current impulses'supl-plied during the welding period can be readily selected. Likewise by adjusting thetime during which'the relay ZSmaintains the control contactsclosedythe length of the welding 'peridd "can'beadjusted. Itwillbe readily seen that the "sy'stem-which I have illustrated affords a'wide variety of adjustments making for a very flexible and adaptable system.

Due to the adaptabilityoi the-system described above; it is particularly adaptablefor use in port- 'able welding machines capable of welding alloy "'steel and light gaugealuminum. The'frequency of' abQut ZUG cycles-or more which is supplied to the primary windingm allows a considerable de- "creas'ein the transformer size. In a practical instance I have 1 found :that: the requisite power can be supplied to the welding load "with-"a small- This negative voltage is 45 sized transformer and with a low secondary voltage of about 60 volts, thus eliminating the necessity for using excessively high voltages which the art had previously been compelled to use. Of course, due to the storage aspect of the conthe condenser 5 decreases and reverses, the condenser 5, the load which is drawn from the power denser 4! cannot discharge through the tube 31, due to its rectifying action. Therefore the condenser ii can only lose its charge by a leakage discharge path provided by the resistance 40,

lines is equally distributed over the three-phase line which, as previously described herein, is a desirable mode of operation. Since the power which is supplied for a single welding operation conductors 42 and 20, and resistance l8. This is subdivided into separate discrete impulses, each discharge circuit has a suificiently long time constant so that the negative hold-off voltage is maintained on the grids of the tubes 6 until a suffici nt period of time after the completion of impulse being stored in a condenser, by making each impulse shorter in duration, the peak power which can be supplied to the welding load is greatly amplified, although the total power dursuch a welding current impulse as is illustrated G9 ing a single welding operation may remain at a in Fig. 2. The operation of such a hold-ofi circult is more fully described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 434,670, filed March 14, 1942.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated the sequence of 5 0 shows the pulses of charging current supplied to the condenser 5, and 11 shows the igniting impulses which are supplied to the igniting electrode 25 of the tube 22.

As will be seen from the curve a, the frequency relatively low level. In many types of welding operation high power peaks of the foregoing type are very desirable, and produce greatly improved welds.

In one embodiment of my invention I used a welding transformer with a ratio of transformation of fifty to one. The capacity of the condenser 5 was about 600 mfd, while the inductance of its associated discharge circuit was 0.6 microhenry. The voltage to which the condenser 5 was charged was approximately 3000 volts, and with the above ratio transformation, the secondary welding transformer voltage did not exceed 60 volts. With above constants of capacity and inof each welding current impulse is determined ductance, the natural frequency of each welding impulse was about 165 cycles per second. The secondary welding current peak was about 10 amperes maximum. The welding transformer had about one hundred fifty primary and three secondary turns. The core material was of a special magnetic alloy, utilizing 120,000 flux lines per square inch and giving a resultant total flux of about 2400 kilo lines maximum, without saturation and using only twenty square inches crosssection of transformer core.

Of course it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular details as described above as many equivalents will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It is accordingly desired that the appended claims be given a broad interpretation commensurate with the scope of the invention within the art.

What is claimed is:

1. The welding method which consists in storing electrical energy, discharging said stored energy into a resistance welding load by an oscillating discharge, trapping the residual energy of said discharge in the same polarity as the initial charge of stored energy, and building up said residual energy to the initial value.

2. The welding method which consists in storing electrical energy, discharging said stored energy into a resistance Welding load by an oscillating discharge, trapping the residual energy of said discharge in the same polarity as the initial charge of stored energy after one complete oscillation, and building up said residual energy to the initial value.

3. The welding method which consists in storing electrical energy in a given polarity and to a predetermined value, discharging said stored energy through a resistance Welding load thus reversing the polarity of said stored energy, reversing the direction of said discharge through said load thus restoring said energy in the original polarity to a value less than said predetermined value, and building up said residual energy to said predetermined value.

larity, and recharging the storage device to the original level of charge, the frequency of each of said current impulses being substantially greater than the -cycle frequency of commercial power lines.

HANS KLEMPERER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,168,346 Thomson Jan. 18, 1916 1,761,420 Van Henke June 3, 1930 2,046,969 Redmond July 7, 1936 2,145,724 Horsley Jan. 31, 1939 2,179,105 Sidney Nov. 7, 1939 2,216,329 Stansbury Oct. 1, 1940 2,235,385 Rava Mar. 18, 1941 2,277,146 Roby Mar. 24, 1942 2,287,540 Vang June 23, 1942 2,295,293 Rogers Sept. 8, 1942 2,801,424 List et al Nov. 10, 1942 2,302,119 Hagedorn Nov. 17, 1942 2,303,453 Gulliksen Dec. 1, 1942 2,372,147 White et al Mar. 20, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 548,618 Great Britain Oct. 16, 1942 626,598 Germany Feb. 28, 1936 OTHER REFERENCES Babat, High Voltage Condenser Welding," The Welding Journal, August 1935, pages 6-8. 

